


Coming to a Conclusion

by yourlibrarian



Category: Merlin (TV), Supernatural
Genre: Episode Review, Episode: s05e11 The Drawing of the Dark, Gen, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-06-05 13:19:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6705937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Merlin comes to a close, one can look back at the series and see how it did and didn't fulfill its promise.  It also makes for an interesting comparison with the first 5 seasons of Supernatural, which also set up a story about destiny.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coming to a Conclusion

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted May 18, 2013

Even though I haven't seen the final episodes yet, I suspect this season is going to make me think of S5 of SPN, which itself was supposed to be the final season of a show whose ending had also been planned out since the beginning. Yet despite being in the home stretch, that season wandered around all over the place, squandered a truly terrific S4 finale, was full of utter nonsense, and failed to explore the stuff it should have been wrapping up. Almost in spite of itself, SPN managed to have a powerful ending, largely by at last delivering what it had been leading to since its start. That ending was cluttered with all the story threads that had popped up in the meantime as a way of extending the show's run, but its bare bones were still solid. 

In short, both shows seem to have always known where they were going but didn't seem to know what to do with themselves until they got there. However poorly SPN handled its material though, a look back at S5 shows that there were all sorts of promising ideas in it, there was just never any follow-through. 

Of course, S5 of Merlin really will be the end. SPN undercut its own conclusion by being renewed for several more lackluster seasons which have to do more with people paying off their mortgages than any interest in doing something memorable with their canon. And while Merlin failed to have any outstanding episodes this season (even by its own standards) its opening episodes did show some promise. 

So 5.11 follows on that idea of finally delivering what it has been promising for so long and showing that, in spite of itself, the bare bones of the story are strong. Given Mordred's surprising allegiance to Camelot in 5.02, the question all season has been "How will Mordred become Arthur's downfall?" Merlin has been assuming it's because Mordred was hiding his true intentions -- a more traditional approach to the story, given that in some of the earliest tales Mordred's treachery was planned. Whereas in this version, no one's really betraying anyone -- just the opposite, in fact. Everyone is being completely true to who they are and maintaining their most important loyalties.

Of course we have to assume that about Kara, given that we've just met her. But it's a chain reaction really. Kara's being true to her people, Mordred's being true to her, Arthur's being true to Camelot's ideals, and Merlin is being true to Arthur and his own sense of honor. Whatever his suspicions, Merlin never does betray Mordred, not really. Perhaps they wouldn't have been caught had he not raised the alarm so soon, but the deed had already been done. 

And yet the predicted result occurs. In those earlier tales, Mordred precipitated Camelot's downfall by revealing Gwen's betrayal of Arthur with Lancelot. And at the end of the episode he does begin the end by revealing a secret being kept from Arthur. But a woman is also involved, one who betrays Mordred himself, in a way, by not saving herself, and by extension him, when given the chance. 

By not really putting anyone in the wrong, the writers have created a more tragic ending than anticipated, in that everyone's fall seems inevitable and the meaning of destiny in this verse comes to full flower.

But they did leave one niggling point. Merlin changes Arthur's mind when he begged him to reconsider Kara and Mordred's fates. Which suggests that perhaps in "The Disir", had Merlin not been inhibited by his own fear of fulfilling a prophecy, that Arthur might have listened to him. His decision there seemed tragic, but more in a personal way than a long-term way. After all, there was no guarantee Arthur would change his stance on magic, or that his decision would have prevented Kara from behaving as she did.

Although I first thought of SPN because of the muddled approach the show took to reach its concluding season, it's interesting to me how similar the two stories are in some ways. In each, the key point is that a future king's protector and closest partner tries to avoid a predicted destiny, and through distrust (as well as betrayal) a secret is kept that ends up causing the destiny to occur. 

In SPN Sam is chosen as the future boy king of hell, and the Winchesters spend several seasons trying to avoid that fate. Unfortunately, it might have been avoided had Dean not felt like such a failure in his role as protector, and in such despair over his brother's loss, that he set that very event in motion by bringing Sam back from the dead and sending himself to hell.

In the end, their lack of trust and communication causes Sam to do the very thing each most wants to avoid, although other characters betray them as well in order to lead them down that path. To put things right, Sam's sense of honor leads him to sacrifice himself at the end of S5, and Dean must let him, in order to save the world from destruction. The series was clearly intended to end with Dean left alone to grieve and Sam gone to an afterworld likely never to return.


End file.
